Ivanhoe Mines has closed its private placement with Rio Tinto for total proceeds of C$244.7 million. Ivanhoe has used C$198.2 million to purchase from Rio key mining and milling equipment for its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mining complex in Mongolia. This includes principal components for the 100,000-t/d phase-one copper-gold concentrator, including two large, 11.5-m-diameter, SAG mills, four ball mills, re-grind mills, crushers, motors, gearless drives, conveyors and flotation cells. It also includes the hoist and major components for the sinking of Shaft #2 – the 10-m-diameter, main production shaft for the underground block-cave mine at the Hugo North deposit.

The balance of the proceeds, C$46.4 million, will be used to purchase additional equipment and for general corporate purposes. With the completion of this transaction, Rio has increased its ownership in Ivanhoe Mines from 19.6% to 22.4% and could potentially increase its stake in Ivanhoe to up to 46.6% during the next 19 months.